دست دوم
“دست دوم” (daste dâvâm) — second-hand, used in Persian. Adjective, level B1, topic — shopping and money. Literally "of the second hand": the hand plus the second. A thing from other hands — and one bargains over it more boldly. I bought a used book, says the example. In a live sentence: “کتاب دست دوم خریدم” — I bought a second-hand book. Written with the characters د, س, ت, د, و, م.
In short
| Written in Persian | دست دوم |
| Read in Latin letters | daste dâvâm |
| Translation | second-hand, used |
| Part of speech | adjective |
| Level | B1 |
Why it looks that way
Literally "of the second hand": the hand plus the second. A thing from other hands — and one bargains over it more boldly. I bought a used book, says the example
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- کتاب دست دوم خریدمketâbe daste dâvâm kharidamI bought a second-hand book
Nearby words: shopping and money
How much it costs, whether there is a smaller one, whether cards are accepted. A shop forgives mistakes: miss a word and they will show you the thing with their hands anyway.
- چندchandhow many?The number-word of shopping: chand?, how much? Chand ta?, how many? Works for prices, ages and counts alike
- تومانtumântomanThe currency unit of daily speech, ten rials each. Prices are said in tomans straight away, no zeros spelled out
- فروشگاهfârushgâhshopLiterally "place of selling": forush sale + gah place. The generic shop, from grocery to mall
- بازارbâzârbazaarThe covered market-city of shops and caravanserais — the word that walked from these streets into English whole
- نیمکتnemkatcounterThe shop counter, the bench of trade. Same word as the park bench — the place you lean on to buy
- فروشندهfârushândesellerForush sale + the -ande of the doer: a selling one. Forooshgah, the shop, is its place
- مشتریmâshtaricustomerThe one who shops — from the root of "a user". The polite address to any stranger at the counter
- ترازوtarâzuscalesThe balance of the fruit stall, always old and always trusted. Tarazoo inja-ye: the scales are here
- کیلوkilâkiloThe metric word, said short. Orders are weighed in kilos: do kilo sib — two kilos of apples
- تازهtâzefreshFresh — bread, fruit, news. The compliment of the bakery and the complaint of the fishmonger when absent
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “shopping and money”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “second-hand, used” in Persian?
Literally "of the second hand": the hand plus the second. A thing from other hands — and one bargains over it more boldly. I bought a used book, says the example
- How do you say “customer” in Persian?
The one who shops — from the root of "a user". The polite address to any stranger at the counter
- How do you say “shop” in Persian?
Literally "place of selling": forush sale + gah place. The generic shop, from grocery to mall
- How do you say “fresh” in Persian?
Fresh — bread, fruit, news. The compliment of the bakery and the complaint of the fishmonger when absent
- How do you say “seller” in Persian?
Forush sale + the -ande of the doer: a selling one. Forooshgah, the shop, is its place
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “second-hand, used” in Persian?
«دست دوم», read “daste dâvâm”. In a live sentence: “کتاب دست دوم خریدم” — I bought a second-hand book. Adjective, level B1, from the set “shopping and money”; written with the characters د, س, ت, د, و, م.
How is “دست دوم” written in Latin letters?
daste dâvâm. This is a practical spelling — you need it to read aloud and be understood, not to meet an academic standard.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Literally "of the second hand": the hand plus the second. A thing from other hands — and one bargains over it more boldly. I bought a used book, says the example. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.